UFCThe Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts organization, recognized as the largest MMA promotion in the world. The UFC is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada and is owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC. This promotion is responsible for solidifying the sport's postion in the history-books.
UFC is currently undergoing a remarkable surge in popularity, along with greater mainstream media coverage. UFC programming can now be seen on FOX, FX, and FUEL TV in the United States, as well as in 35 other countries worldwide.

One month after announcing that Wanderlei Silva had been signed to fight in the UFC and would likely face Chuck Liddell in November, the UFC has backed off of those claims in a Canadian media interview.

Pride has not yet commented on the UFC's statements. Here is the full article, courtesy of the Canadian Press.

Liddell Silva fight could be off, according to UFC president
by Neil Davidson, Canadian Press (CP)

It appears the much anticipated mixed martial arts bout between rival champions Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva scheduled for November might be off.

``I don't even know if Silva's going to happen,'' Dana White, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, told The Canadian Press in an interview.

White cited problems in dealing with the Japan-based Pride Fighting Championships that is home to Silva.

White said UFC 65 will instead probably feature Liddell against Tito Ortiz in a rematch of UFC 47 in 2004 when Liddell battered and bloodied the Huntington Beach Bad Boy.

The Liddell-Silva bout was considered a blockbuster matchup, finally bringing the rival UFC and Pride organizations together

Liddell (18-3-0) is the current UFC light-heavyweight champion at 205 pounds. While the Iceman has been out of commission recently with a toe injury, he remains the face of mixed martial arts in North America for many.

Known as the Axe Murderer, Silva (24-3-1) is a fighting machine who holds the Pride title. He has appeared in the UFC before, losing to Ortiz at UFC 25 in 2000 in his last outing in the Octagon.

The UFC, now looking to expand to Europe, has had the U.S. market largely to itself. Pride dominates Japan, using pay-per-view shows and Fox Sports TV to spread the word.

Complicating matters is the recent announcement that Pride is staging its first ever show in North America, The Real Deal!, in UFC's backyard of Las Vegas on Oct. 21.

``Obviously there are a lot of things going on,'' White said of the Pride situation. ``I'll [tell] you this, the Japanese are very hard to do business with and you never know what's going to happen.''

The UFC surprised viewers at UFC 61 last month in Las Vegas when Silva and Liddell met in the ring for a stare down as White announced their bout.

If this fight doesn't happen every MMA fan will riot. Its the fight we've been waiting for since 2002, two of the top businesses send their best fighters to fight each other to see whos better. Plus Dana promised us after that Shamrock and Ortiz early stoppage. If this doesn't happen I may never trust Dana on what he says again.

Dana White is ignorant. Dreamstage Entertainment(DSE) has already said that they are willing to do business with the UFC. They even have Pride fighters fighting on a UFC program, Ultimate Fight Night 6. Both companies need the other in order to expand and to have something to compete for and against in other markets, like Europe. The fights going to happen, both companies need this to happen. They make it seem like the show, the Real Deal, in Vegas is going to piss off the UFC but I wouldn't be surprised if some UFC fighters are going to be at the show.

I don't think Dana is ignorant, if the fight is off then there really has to be a serious issue at hand. the UFC is not going to just not hold that fight just because, the fight will probably bring more money to that PPV than the last 3 PPV's combined. You never know, they could really be having problems with Pride. It would kind of make sense, sense Pride is making their North American debut in October. Maybe, they feel like it might hurt their business. But, who knows, only time will tell. If the fight doesn't happen there will be a lot of angry MMA fans like people have been saying. I honestly think that it would be in both companies best interest to have this fight happen in November.